I have no need for Snapon or Britool, (not that it means I don't have any Britool, cos I do).
And I am not saying buy the cheapest Chinesium ones either cos they don't last five minutes.
Just buy mid to more expensive stuff when you are starting, (I did go back in and edit it to reflect what I really meant. )
But from my Kamasa, (bought when an impecunious student), Draper Expert and Sealey stuff (the Sealey came free with some of their cabinets,) in all the years I have been working on cars, I have only had to replace two sockets (a 13mm and a 15 mm), one 3/8th U/J which I seriously abused and was not at all surprised it bruck when I asked it to do the impossible, and one ratchet, (3/8th). All replaced with good quality.
So I have not paid for a big range of very expensive sockets that I rarely or even, in some cases, never use.
Of course for certain jobs I have had to buy special sized sockets, usually huge ones and each time I buy good quality.
Maybe I have been lucky and maybe I don't use mine as much as some of us on here, but it is a judgement we all have to make based on our income and ways of justifying the expense. I got my family to buy me my more expensive tools like my welder etc.
As for taking off the manifold, he could well get into a whole mess of trouble doing that. Those of us who have had the manifold warp, which is a lot, me included know about this. He could end up having to drill out broken studs as I had to. I've just had a look and couldn't see clearly under the shield over the turbo, so it might be possible not easy, but I'd see that as a very last resort.
I think he needs to get the other two nuts off then bash it back and forth a bit with a rubber hammer, or an ammer an a bit o wood, as it'll move a bit, plus spraying with deseize stuff, until the the flange of the nut comes a tiny bit loose.
All good fun!